Abstract In this work, carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are embedded as a functional material into white-organic-light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs) devices with a structure of dual-light-emitting layer. When the forward voltage is applied on devices ranging from 14 V to 22 V, the CIE coordinates of CQDs WOLEDs changed from (0.27,0.29) to (0.34,0.37) which exhibits linear optical modulation effect. Meanwhile the as-fabricated CQDs WOLEDs obtain excellent optical and electrical properties. By embedding CQDs, WOLEDs with a low turn-on voltage of 12 V which is 40% lower than reference devices can be achieved. Moreover, the devices could also obtain high luminous brightness with a lower voltage. Such superior properties are attributed to the CQDs multiple exciton generation (MEG) effect. The results demonstrate that CQDs as functional materials of WOLEDs may open up new thoughts to develop the optically modifiable WOLEDs and the low power consumption optoelectronic devices.